


birthday gifts

by sapphirestark



Series: peter parker's work-life-balance: how to manage school, an internship, and being a superhero [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, IW and Endgame never happened, Irondad, Precious Peter Parker, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, because he's not dead here, i even gave the acronym a new meaning, i'm tagging spoilers just in case but there aren't any for the plot i promise, spiderson, the glasses exist here but in a totally different context, this is a happy zone, tony gives peter the EDITH glasses as a gift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 01:24:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19713463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphirestark/pseuds/sapphirestark
Summary: “You didn’t have to get me a present, though. Really, you already do so much for me -” Peter started rambling, and Tony smiled inadvertently.“Yes, and I’m about to do even more - because Iwantto, kid. Really, Pete, we’ve had this talk before, haven’t we?” He reached across the lab table and ruffled Peter’s hair.“Hey!” Peter ducked away, laughing. “Okay, fine. As long as it’s not super expensive, or rare, or dangerous -” Tony’s eyes twinkled in suppressed laughter. God, that kid was too precious for this world.“…It’s all three, isn’t it?”





	birthday gifts

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! i'm back because i saw ffh yesterday. there are no major plot spoilers in this story though, so don't worry! this story fits into the universe that my work-life balance series is set in, so i'm just making it a part of it haha. enjoy!

“Sir, Peter has entered the building and will be arriving in the lab in approximately two minutes. I am scheduled to remind you that it’s his 17th birthday today.” 

Tony twirled a screwdriver in his hands, not really using it for anything related to the holograms in front of him. He had noticed that he always seemed to pick up little habits from people he worked with - it used to be chewing peppermints whenever he worked with Bruce. Now it was fidgeting with lab equipment because Peter always did it. It used to annoy him, and he almost laughed at that memory. 

“Thanks, Friday. I know.” 

Tony was glad that Peter’s birthday fell on a lab day, and even more so that the kid had never even brought up the thought of cancelling it in favour of doing something more birthday-ish. Peter had said he didn’t want a party, instead opting to postpone a celebration with his friends to the weekend when he could binge-watch movies with Ned and MJ while devouring some pizzas.

“Has he had lunch?” Once again, Tony made a mental note to just program Friday into automatically answering that whenever Peter came over since Tony always asked that question. 

Ever since he’d found out about Peter’s metabolism and witnessed the effects of malnourishment on his kid, he’d been determined to never let him go hungry on his watch which usually meant getting regular deliveries of take-out and having an excessive amount of snacks in the lab, the latter of which being something he’d spent years adamantly forbidding in his tower. Pepper had teased him about that change of heart many times, but Peter just seemed to have a knack for bending his rules. Happy’s face when he’d first witnessed Peter handing Tony something (his chemistry lab report) really had been quite hilarious. 

“No, sir.” Friday replied, and Tony sighed. “May I suggest ordering the usual?” 

“Yes, Fri. - And add some mini muffins from that shop down the street. It’s his birthday, after all.” No better time to indulge his sweet tooth. 

“Of course, sir.” 

Tony heard the elevator before he saw it and turned around just in time to see Peter bolting out of it, waving at him even though he was just a few feet away. 

“Hey, Mr Stark! How are you?” He threw himself onto his chair opposite his mentor. 

“Happy birthday, kid!” Tony smiled and tossed the screwdriver over to Peter, who easily caught it while discarding his backpack on the floor. 

“Thanks!” Peter grinned at his mentor, not out of breath in the slightest even though he’d clearly hurried to arrive in the lab after school. Sometimes Tony really envied his youth, but was quick to remind himself that Peter had super spider speed and whatnot, so the comparison wasn’t really fair. (At least that’s what he was telling himself.)

“Did you have a good day at school?” Tony couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice completely. Bullies normally didn’t care if it was their victim’s birthday or not. 

Peter’s smile didn’t falter, though, as Tony noted in relief. “Yeah, all good. Got an A in Spanish.” 

“Bien hecho.” Tony smiled. For a long time, he’d pretended to not care about Peter’s school results because that’s where he drew the line between “worried mentor” and helicopter parent”, but ever since he’d ended up helping him with his science fair project (which included staying up all night to perfect a hologram simulation), he figured he could just as well give up the ruse. 

“So what are we doing today?” Peter scanned the holograms surrounding the workbench, already focused on the work in front of him. 

“We -” Tony flicked away the holograms in a swift motion, “are celebrating your birthday, kid. I know, I know -” he interrupted when Peter started to protest, “you didn’t want a party. Don’t worry, it’s not a party. But I do have something for you that’s equally nerdy and stylish. In other words, perfect for a seventeen-year-old mini genius who’s gonna be the face of Stark Industries.” He winked at Peter, who rolled his eyes. 

“Very funny, Mr Stark.”

Tony chuckled. It wasn’t technically a joke - as soon as Peter turned eighteen, he’d legally be the heir to his company. He’d let it slip several times and Peter always disregarded it as a joke, which Tony found hilarious.

“You didn’t have to get me a present, though. Really, you already do so much for me -” Peter started rambling, and Tony smiled inadvertently. 

“Yes, and I’m about to do even more - because I _want_ to, kid. Really, Pete, we’ve had this talk before, haven’t we?” He reached across the lab table and ruffled Peter’s hair. 

“Hey!” Peter ducked away, laughing. “Okay, fine. As long as it’s not super expensive, or rare, or dangerous -” Tony’s eyes twinkled in suppressed laughter. God, that kid was too precious for this world.

“…It’s all three, isn’t it?” Peter said in resignation when he saw Tony’s expression of barely contained glee. 

“Maybe. Definitely not dangerous for you. For others, though -” 

“I hate you,” Peter complained but willingly got up to follow Tony into a lab that was adjoined to their main workspace. They mainly used it to store parts and unfinished prototypes that had been put on hold in favour of newer or more urgent projects. 

Tony searched through one of the cabinets. He’d thought for a long time on what he could get Peter as a present - he didn’t want it to be something solely materialistic, it had to have character and a good degree of uniqueness, something that was meant for Peter alone. But he’d also wanted it to be useful - and of course, a certain level of tech and geekiness would always be a plus for Peter, even though the kid would never say it. 

In the end, he’d gone with something that checked all those boxes - and if it also transferred some of the signature Stark style over to Peter, then it totally wasn’t because of Tony’s subconscious wish to manifest the quasi-adoption between them into something more tangible, more lasting. No. It just looked cool. 

When his hands enclosed the small metal case, he had to squash some last-minute doubts - would the kid like it? Was it too cheesy? Too overprotective of him? 

_Shut up and give the kid his present_ , he chastised himself before turning around, the case still hidden behind his back. Peter stared at him, still seemingly on the verge of declining the need for any present ever. 

“Listen, kid, I know you never wish for anything, but I really wanted to give this to you. It’s both useful and cool, and you and I both know that money isn’t an issue here, so don’t worry about it. Just - I hope you enjoy it.” He let out a breath - emotional speeches still weren’t his forte, and he doubted Peter realised he was amongst very very few people who’d ever gotten one from him - or in his case, too many to count already. Why did the kid always have to get injured? 

Tony told himself to get over it and handed Peter the small black case, watching him closely to determine if he would hate it, no matter how much the rational part of his brain insisted that Peter would love it - and that even if he did hate it, he would never admit to it. 

Peter took it as if it was made of glass and sent one last look of advance gratitude towards him. “Mr Stark, really -” 

Tony couldn’t help but laugh. “Kid, just open it. No take backs.” 

Peter rolled his eyes but complied. Tony watched as the kid’s expression changed rapidly from curiosity to disbelief to pure excitement when he saw the content of the box, and Tony inwardly sighed in relief. 

“Oh my God, Mr Stark! This is so - oh my God!” Peter took out a pair of glasses from the case. “These are almost the same as yours!” 

Tony met Peter’s excited grin and nodded. “Same model, but without a tint in the glasses. And slightly smaller so they fit onto your baby face.” Tony grinned when Peter shot him a mock-offended look. 

“These are amazing, seriously - thank you so much!” Before he could protest (not that he would have, if he was being totally honest), Peter had tackled his mentor in a hug. Tony fondly ruffled the kid’s hair. 

“If you’re that excited about the frames alone, I dread to see what happens when I show you what they can do.” 

Peter removed his face from Tony’s shirt and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?” 

“Try them on!” Tony nudged his hand encouragingly. Peter complied, and Tony would have to lie if he said he didn’t feel a swell of pride when he saw his kid wearing those glasses. But this wasn’t the time to dwell too much on what that meant. 

“Just say hi, or something.” 

Peter threw him a confused look but didn’t question it. “Uh, hello?” 

“Voice activation confirmed. Hello, Peter Parker.” 

Tony saw Peter’s eyes widen when he knew the display was building itself. It was similar to Karen in the Spider-Suit, and Friday in his own armour. 

“Oh my God, what is this?” Peter sounded absolutely amazed, and Tony had to admit the tech was pretty cool. It was fast, elegant, and effective - something he aimed for with all Stark tech, but especially with the suits and the armour. 

“That’s EDITH. It’s short for Emergency Defence and Interference Technology HUD, but why bother with that, right?” He grinned at Peter who rolled his eyes. He’d witnessed far too many of Tony’s acronym hunts in the lab (and there were much worse ones that EDITH). 

“She’s not a full AI, but she can do a lot of stuff - most importantly, she can access Stark emergency defence like my satellites and drones and run interference on tech around you, like hacking into phones and surveillance cameras. She’s connected to Karen and Friday to exchange information, but she runs on a different server and can’t control your suit. Kind of like Karen’s little sister.” Tony shrugged. “I thought it’d be useful for dangerous situations you get into when you’re not being Spiderman, which seems to happen an awful lot to you, kid.” He smiled slightly. 

Peter’s eyes got wider and wider. “This is fucking incredible,” he whispered and Tony suppressed a grin. He loved how enthusiastic Peter was about stuff, how he never hid happiness or gratitude. Tony knew the kid had rubbed off on him in that aspect, at least when he was around the people that really knew him.

“I’m glad you like it, kid. - Oh, and also,” he added as an afterthought, “you can tell her to adjust the tint in the glasses. You know, to help with sensory overload.”

Peter took off EDITH, the blue hue at the inside of the frame fading away instantly. “Mr Stark, I - this is really amazing. I would say I can’t accept this but I know you’d make me do it anyway.” He smiled at the ground. 

“You bet I would, kid. Take them, they’re in good hands with you.”

Peter tackled him in another hug and Tony didn’t even pretend to mind. Instead, he messed up Peter’s curls even more than before.

“Yeah, kid, I mean it. Just don’t use her to cheat on tests or something, I hear that’s frowned upon.” 

He heard a laugh from Peter and felt him nod against his shoulder. “Yeah, I promise.” He released Tony from the hug, the glasses still in his hands. 

“With those, you’ll really look like my heir now,” Tony added, the twinkle back in his eyes. Peter promptly swatted his arm.

“Stop saying that! I’m not your heir, it’s making me nervous just to think about it.” Peter laughed. If only he knew how much better of a leader than me he would be, Tony thought, shaking his head slightly. Even Pepper had loved the idea. Peter was everything he wanted his company to embody - compassion, humanity, progress. And he’d certainly failed majorly at that for a long time.

“You’re right, Pete, you’re not my heir.” Tony gently guided him back towards the main lab, closing the door to the storage lab behind them. 

“Yet.” He added, grinning at Peter’s exasperated expression. 

“ _Tony!_ ” 

“Oh, so _now_ it's 'Tony'?” Tony laughed when he saw the light blush that immediately crept on to Peter's face, even though the kid obviously tried not to smile and instead just rolled his eyes in response. They returned to their workspace at the main lab table and Peter demonstratively summoned some hologram schematics of the Spider suit to declare the end of this discussion. 

Tony smiled fondly and picked up a pencil to twirl around. Lab days really were the best.

**Author's Note:**

> comments are always appreciated! you can also say hi to me on tumblr: sapphirestark.tumblr.com :) thank you for reading! x


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